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A review by literaturejuggle
Is There Life Outside the Box?: An Actor Despairs by Peter Davison
4.0
I like Peter Davison. He's one of those actors I've always liked, since before I really knew who he was, although my fandom wasn't cemented until university when I got into The Last Detective, and consequently, needing a Peter-Davison-playing-a-detective fix, Campion, who is now one of my favourite fictional characters. Anyway, Davison's autobiography perfectly encapsulates his gentle charm and self-deprecating and acerbic wit. There are a few moments of repetition, but I feel like I should let those slide since he's an actor, not a writer by profession.
These days everyone who's ever appeared on TV seems to have an autobiography, and I'm not a particular fan of the genre. The fact is that most people do not have a novel-worthy life story to tell. And in some cases, you can seriously go off a celebrity after finding out what they are really like. That's not the case here. I liked Peter Davison before I read his book and I like him just as much having read it and now I know a bit about his life that I didn't know before, mainly because I didn't know anything about his life at all. But if he wasn't an actor I already admired, I'm not sure how much there is to get out of his story. Which is probably redundant, because who would be reading this other than a fan anyway? In some ways, maybe many ways, it's reassuring to read the life story (albeit a very abridged and occasionally rather vague one) of a man who seems to be recognisable and normal - not normal in a dull way, but the sort of person who I'd probably actually get along with. It's a sort of tale of luck and optimism, despite all the bad luck and self-deprecation along the way.
This isn't ground-breaking stuff, but it's certainly very readable, a good laugh and leaves you with a wry smile and a weird fatalistic optimism. And also a huge list of TV shows I now have to go rent.
These days everyone who's ever appeared on TV seems to have an autobiography, and I'm not a particular fan of the genre. The fact is that most people do not have a novel-worthy life story to tell. And in some cases, you can seriously go off a celebrity after finding out what they are really like. That's not the case here. I liked Peter Davison before I read his book and I like him just as much having read it and now I know a bit about his life that I didn't know before, mainly because I didn't know anything about his life at all. But if he wasn't an actor I already admired, I'm not sure how much there is to get out of his story. Which is probably redundant, because who would be reading this other than a fan anyway? In some ways, maybe many ways, it's reassuring to read the life story (albeit a very abridged and occasionally rather vague one) of a man who seems to be recognisable and normal - not normal in a dull way, but the sort of person who I'd probably actually get along with. It's a sort of tale of luck and optimism, despite all the bad luck and self-deprecation along the way.
This isn't ground-breaking stuff, but it's certainly very readable, a good laugh and leaves you with a wry smile and a weird fatalistic optimism. And also a huge list of TV shows I now have to go rent.